Aixtron Shares Find Their Feet as Order Intake Surges 81% on AI Demand

Aixtron's Q2 orders smash expectations, jumping 81% to €214.5M, driven by AI optoelectronics demand. Stock rebounds from oversold levels with JPMorgan bullish.

The semiconductor equipment maker Aixtron has given investors something to cheer about after a brutal stretch that wiped nearly half the company's market value from its June peak. Shares jumped more than 7% on Thursday as the group reported second-quarter orders that smashed expectations, offering the clearest signal yet that the artificial intelligence boom is translating into hard commercial momentum.

Order intake for the three months through June hit €214.5 million, an 81% leap from the same period last year. That haul pushed the total order backlog to almost €457 million, a level that chief executive Felix Grawert described as a pivotal inflection point for the business. The surge was driven overwhelmingly by optoelectronics, the technology that AI data centre operators are scrambling to deploy in their infrastructure buildouts.

The numbers landed well ahead of analyst forecasts, prompting JPMorgan to reaffirm its "Overweight" rating and a €70 price target — roughly double the current share price. The bank's endorsement underscores a growing conviction that Aixtron is positioned to ride the semiconductor cycle rather than be crushed by it.

Yet the picture is far from uniform. While optoelectronics is firing on all cylinders, the power electronics division remains a drag. Management has cautioned that a meaningful recovery in that segment is unlikely before 2027, leaving investors to bet that AI-related demand can bridge the gap in the meantime. For the current year, the board is targeting revenue of around €560 million, with the third quarter alone expected to contribute roughly €180 million.

The stock's recent trajectory tells the story of a market wrestling with conflicting signals. From a 52-week high of €62.68 in June, Aixtron shares tumbled nearly 50% before Thursday's rebound, a rout that pushed the relative strength index to 28.5 — deep into oversold territory where technical analysts typically expect either a bounce or a bottoming process. The 200-day moving average, currently sitting at €32.53, had been looming as a critical support line, and the stock's ability to hold above that level in recent sessions has offered some relief to chart-watchers.

At €35.46, the shares have stabilised after the month-long sell-off that erased roughly a third of their value. The extreme volatility — measured at nearly 80% — reflects the jitters running through the technology sector, where shifting chip demand and geopolitical uncertainties have kept investors on edge.

The next test comes in the third quarter, when Aixtron must convert its bulging order book into actual deliveries. The €180 million revenue target for that period is the near-term milestone that will either validate Grawert's inflection-point narrative or expose it as premature. For now, the combination of a record order intake, a technically oversold stock, and analyst support has given the bulls a fresh argument — but the proof, as always, will be in the shipments.